September 12, 2009
Rooftop urban gardening
Tomatos, peppers, beans and marigolds to deter bad insects flourish on my roof deck garden.
Fascinating article in today's Washington Post, Raising The Root: Some City Dwellers Are Hoping Rooftop Farming Will Bear Fruit.
NEW YORK -- Like many a farmer, Ben Flanner rises with the sun. Like most crops, his need water and weeding -- bright tomatoes and fragrant basil, delicate nasturtiums, mottled melons and black eggplants, mustard greens, puntarelle, peas, beets, beans, kale -- about 30 fruits and vegetables in all, and then there are the herbs.I'm getting giant bell peppers this year off my rooftop garden, the size of small pumpkins, with the addition of vermiculture, and just planted some cool-weather spinach two days ago. I find rooftop gardening rewarding for the reasons mentioned in the article, consistent sun, controllable soil conditions and lack of pests. Some photos:But his farm is not like most farms.
His farm is three stories off the ground.
Beyond it is a sweeping view of the Manhattan skyline. Below it is a TV and film soundstage.
Flanner's 6,000-square-foot farm is on a rooftop in the industrial Greenpoint section of Brooklyn. He hopes it can become a model for others who want to grow food but lack space.
Beans against a vista including the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River.
Some ginormous bell peppers from the roof deck garden, fed by worm compost.
